Henry Blundell, born at Ince Blundell, Lancashire, was the son of Robert Blundell (d. 1773) of Ince Blundell Hall, north of Liverpool. In 1763 he commissioned four large canvases from Wilson to adorn Ince Hall (see below) paying 70 guineas for each one, although Wilson had asked only for 50. His wealth increased with the deaths, in 1767 and 1773 respectively, of his wife and father. As a result of this substantial change in his financial fortunes and the loss of much of his immediate family, Blundell devoted himself to improving the house and estate at Ince and commissioning paintings. In 1959, with the sale of the estate, the Ince Blundell collection of antiquities was offered as an unconditional gift to the city of Liverpool and is now part of the collection of the National Museums and Galleries Liverpool, housed in the Walker Art Gallery.
See further three articles by Christopher Hussey, 'Ince Blundell Hall, Lancashire', I, II & III, Country Life, 1958: 10 April, pp. 756-59; 17 April, pp. 816-19; & 24 April, pp. 876-79.
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